"One life to live. Many lives to touch." That's one of Karla Antoinette Baptiste's guiding philosophies and she's using the one life she almost lost to touch women's lives all over the country. After being diagnosed with stage III breast cancer and wondering, "What now?," the Dallas, TX resident documented her journey of triumphing over breast cancer - from diagnosis to the critical five year cancer-free anniversary. The Dig in Your Heels author shares her story of inspiration, courage and giving back with BlackDoctor.org. In September of 2007 at the age of 34, I was diagnosed with breast cancer -- stage III invasive ductal carcinoma to be exact. I had recently returned to the States after living in Paris, France for almost two years. It was my dream to live in Paris. I had obtained my MBA there and, like most graduates, I was on top of the world. I believed the best was yet to come.
However, the following year I received the devastating news that I had cancer. At first my doctor thought it was stage II but after the mastectomy and lymph node dissection I found out that the tumor was larger than suspected and the cancer had spread to 14 out of 24 of my lymph nodes which made it stage III.
Prior to surgery, I was hoping to avoid chemotherapy but once I got the more advanced diagnosis it was recommended that I go through aggressive treatment. Everything happened so quickly! I went from being a normal 30 something sitting on the couch watching TV to discovering a malignant lump in my left breast. Since that moment, my life was turned upside down and my survivor journey began.
I had a mastectomy of my left breast, 16 weeks of chemotherapy, six weeks of daily radiation, three botched reconstructive surgeries, and four years of hormone therapy. With my faith in God and help from family, friends, co-workers and a few strangers, I dug in my heels and made it through.
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About two years into my journey...
...decided that I’d write a memoir about my breast cancer journey. During treatment, I learned that African-American women are diagnosed at an earlier age and later stage than white women and we are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other race of women. I wanted to share my story from diagnosis to reaching the five year cancer-free milestone with the hope of removing the fear associated with breast cancer and thereby increasing early detection.
Luckily, I made it to my five year anniversary. However, in July 2014, right before I published my memoir, my breast cancer returned and this time it was stage IV.
There is no stage V.
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I was having muscle spasms in my back and discovered that the culprit was a lesion on my T12 vertebrae. The recurrence made me more determined than ever to publish my memoir so I turned to crowdfunding to make it happen. My goal was $10,000 but I raised over $13,000 in two months.
By February 2015, I was cancer-free again and in October of 2015, my memoir, Dig in Your Heels: The Glamorous (and Not So Glamorous) Life of a Young Breast Cancer Survivor was published. Promoting my book and sharing my story has been one of the highlights of my life. Inspiring other women to believe, be positive, and never give up hope has been very fulfilling. I want to do what I can to reduce the breast cancer mortality disparity in the African American community.
Typically, 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of my book goes to breast cancer research and outreach. However, upon learning that cancer patients in my fatherland, St. Vincent & the Grenadines in the West Indies often forgo treatment and die because there isn’t a treatment center on the island, I wanted to be a part of making a treatment center there a reality.
The St. Vincent & the Grenadines Medical Association is aiming to raise $250,000 to establish an oncology center. Initially, I wished that I had sold more books so that I could fund the entire center myself—similar to what Rihanna has done in Barbados. But after I thought about it, I realized that I could give 100 percent of my net proceeds now and maybe my commitment to be “all in” would inspire others to join me in this endeavor.
For a limited time, my memoir will not only engage, inform and inspire women, but it will bring hope and healing to a nation. All of the proceeds from Dig in Your Heels will go toward the oncology center in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
I know what it’s like to go through a cancer battle and it’s important to receive care close to your loved ones and not have to worry about added expenses. Having cancer is burden enough.
Follow Karla's journey on social media: Twitter: @karlaliving; Instagram: @diginyourheels and @karlaliving; Facebook: Facebook.com/KarlaABaptiste
